Former Irish president Mary McAleese has slammed the Catholic Church over its attitude on homosexuality and gay priests.
Herald Scotland have reported that the politician urged Scottish Cardinal Keith O’Brien to speak about his life in to help gay people in need.
Speaking during a lecture at the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Mrs McAleese said Mr O’Brien had wanted to take attention away from himself by speaking out “in the most homophobic way”, but that this was the Vatican’s stance on the issue.
Cardinal Keith O’Brien resigned after he had admitted behaving inappropriately towards young priests under his wing.
And Mrs McAleese blasted the Catholic Church, saying it had been in denial for decades over a topic that is “not so much the elephant in the room but a herd of elephants”.
